#Day179: 28 June 2016, Tuesday

REORGANIZATION - A CHANGE

Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope"

The only thing that stays constant is a change.

Reorganization is the act of reorganizing. With a clear intention of making a situation or an organization towards a better state.

It is a change, it is something that is constant, a change for a better (at least the intention). I am again accommodating a new change in the organization. Something that is needed for the better of the organization as well as the people in it.

It is understood that sometimes we do not like change. Kubler-Ross stages of grief explains to us about how some of us tend to walk through these stages when we are facing a change, a reorganization. They are

• Denial (avoidance, fear, confusion)
• Anger (frustration, iritarion, anxiety)
• Depression (helplessness, fight, hostility)
• Bargaining (finding meaning, reaching to others)
• Acceptance (exploring options, moving on)

Only when we reach the level of acceptance then we are able to better uplift our view, our added values.

Similar to the change story of Apostle Paul. As we know he was born actually as Saul. Saul was determined to eradicate Christians as he watched the life of Peter and the others. Saul was ruthless in his pursuit of Christians as he believed he was doing it in the name of God.

Personally, I found there is no one more frightening or more vicious than a religious terrorist, especially when he believes that he is doing the will of the Lord by killing innocent people.

But yet, God change Saul to Paul. God 'reorganized' Saul to became Paul. And it went through a painful process, he was made blind by God. He went through the 5 stages of grief.

And look how he shined after he reached the acceptance level!! He became Apostle Paul!

I pray that a lot of us can faithfully walk through all the changes in our life. Be it reorganization at office or in our life. I pray that we are bless in reaching the acceptance level of every change in our life. I pray we can shine like Paul!

Philippians 4:6-7 - "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

What a day full of blessing!!

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #reorganization

#Day178: 27 June 2016, Monday

ABOUT LEADERSHIP

Today is management day! I had a back to back Management meeting today.

Talking about management, about leadership, I was thinking what are the best leadership manual that I can have. Well, it is no other than bible.

I came a cross Ron Edmondson blog (As pastor at Immanuel Baptist Church) talking about 12 bible verses that Leaders need to memorize. And  I took a liberty to paste it here for us to read:

1. Luke 6:31 - Do to others as you would like them to do to you.
2. Philippians 2:3 - Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.
3. Proverbs 4:23 - Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
4. Exodus 18:21 - But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain —and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.
5. Psalm 78:72 - With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand.
6. Matthew 20:26 - But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant.
7. Philippians 2:4 - Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
8. Matthew 5:37 - Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
9. 1 Peter 5:7 - Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
10. John 3:30 - He must become greater; I must become less.
11. Galatians 6:9 - So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
12. Philippians 4:13 - For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

Perhaps we should choose one or two of these – or if you’re brave enough, all of them – write them down somewhere you’ll see them often, and commit them to memory.

What a challenge, what a blessing.

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #aboutleadership

#Day177: 26 June 2016, Sunday

FREE WILL - CHOOSE THE RIGHT ONE

By: Ps. Eddy Chang

Luke 15:11 - Parable of the Lost Son

A lot of time we are facing frustration. Be it at personal life as well as spiritual life. Ups and downs, pressures as well as challenges we had and are facing causing us to ask "can we handle all these?" Or "how can we continue to stand?"

While all these attacking us, it allows us to remember that sometimes we are not as strong as we think, that we are weak, that we need God's grace!

In the parable of the lost son, we learned about few things. The son that requested his shares executing his free will for a wrong reason. He wanted his shares for a wrong purpose.

Just like what we read in story of the lost son, we need to know that, every decision will have consequences. We need to take responsibility of what we do, of our action as the result will bring impact to the people surround us (our parents, our love ones and our God).

A wrong decision will bring impecunious in our life (not only material but also spiritual)

How to make a correct decision?

• Remember what Jesus said - "Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls"  - Matthew 11:29 NLT

But what if we have made a wrong decision?

• Remember what the lost son said - "I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you" - Luke 15:18 NLT
• Remember what David said - "I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises" - Psalms 34:1 NLT

It's "I will" and not "I feel". God wants us to remember that we need to give our best in the executing our free will, to always make a correct decision. And when we do make a mistake, we must stand up and move on and face our consequences.

It's "I will" and not "I feel". As our work in the Lord  must not based on how we feel but more on how we will continue the good work that God has started in us, He will continue to finish the good work with us.

So my friend, the free will will always be there for us as He is a loving good. But, let us choose and make the right decision.

Another day full of blessing.

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #freewill

#Day176: 25 June 2016, Saturday

BREAKING FEAR

2 Timothy 1:7 - "For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control"

We went for earing hunting today. It is for Constance ears as she needs a proper earing for the new earing hole that she is having.

The challenge is, she is afraid of the pain. Since the hole is considerably new, there is a slight of pain that she is experiencing everytime we clean or trying to open the existing earing.

It always took us a while to convince her. And today, sitting at the shop she fall on the same mode. Myself and my wife were trying to convinced her to change her earing with the new one. But she refused and start tearing.

Fear seems creeping to her mind. The fear of pain.

After all the effort, she asked to be prayed (she always asked to be prayed over when she felt fear). Holding my hand, while the mother and shop assistant helping to replace both earing, we finally made it. She has the new earing now.

This incident allows me to remember how as human we need to (always) remind ourselves about fear. That God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

That we don't need to fear as Isaiah 41:10 said -  "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand"

That prayer conquers all fear. Psalm 56:3-4 said "When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?"

That after the conquering fear, we will renew our strength, that we will get the price (our new earing).

To God be the glory! In Him there is No Fear only Love. What a day full of blessing. Thanks Constance.

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #breakingfear

#Day175: 24 June 2016, Friday

MIRACLE FROM HEAVEN

Matthew 17:20 - He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

It was a family movie night. After I completed my work, the whole gank sat in our leaving room and ready for the selected movie: "The Miracle From Heaven"

It was about a warm faithful christian family of 5, the parents and their 3 sweet young daughters. Their joy were taken away by the illness that Anna (2nd daughter) carrying. A rare illness which has no cure. The parents give their all in searching for cure and slowly it took away their hope and faith (the mom in particular).

After a long fight, they start to give up. Until a miracle happened. An accident which Anna experience, she feel from a tree but not only she escape safely with only a scratch, her illness is cured! She went to heaven and met God she said.

Her miracle brought her family back to God. And even brought others to God.

It was a great movie which to touches us as a family (Well, my wife, myself and Constance had our tearing moment haha!)

The movie is based on a true event. And I can really relates the difficult situation.

At one scene, the mother was asked my fellow church-goers that it is time for her to check her sinned as after all effort Anna still not cured. They claimed it must be due to the parents sin. And because of this the mom decided to stop visiting the church.

This is similar like when Jesus was asked about the man born blind  in the book of John 9 - “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.

I really like the movie. I like the fact that it reminds me that we tend to seek for a huge miracle (i.e Moses like) but the movie reminded us that everyday, every simple thing we experienced, those are miracles: the family we have, the help we received, the smile we see and all others!

Like the pastor told the mother when she was angry with the church-goers that asked her the question. The pastor said "Unfortunately we are not asked or we cannot choose our neighbour. We are asked to love them"

That answer itself is a power of miracle for me.

A great family night another dayfull of blessing

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #miraclefromheaven

#Day174: 23 June 2016, Thursday

FINANCIAL PLANNING

Proverbs 10:22 - The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it

We arrange a Financial Planning Awareness event for our colleagues today. It was a response to the survey that we made ealier this year on the area that contributes to our stress level. And not to our surprise, financial is one of the item.

If I can summarize the event, it is very much about how we need to ensure our basic needs (the Maslow Hierarchy of needs) are fulfilled before we can talk about an enhanced financial plan which is closely related to an invesment (grow your money).

It is about knowing the arena, mastering your skills and keeping your focus (which is very much about retirement) and start young.

I agree that we need to start young on our financial planning. And I know I really need a help on this area.

If we think about it, it is very much similar to our spiritual growth, our spiritual plan.

We need to fulfill our basic needs. And God said on Matthew 6:33 - But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you

That is our key basic needs: To seek God and his righteousness.

We need to know our arena: I related this with to be planted on local church. That is our arena to grow in serving and spreading His love.

Mastering our skills and keeping our focus: It is about continuous improvement, it is about uplifting while keeping our eyes on Jesus and not on the earthly desire.

And start young: Well, I may not be young anymore but this can also means to lead by example for my children so they can start to know and serve God while they're young.

And in all, be it financial or spiritual, may we always honor the Lord in every way as writren in Proverbs 3:9-10 - "Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine"

What a day full of blessing. Around 105 colleagues attended the event and I hope the event can be a blessing for all of them.

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #financialplanning

#Day173: 22 June 2016, Wednesday

20 YEARS

It was 20 years ago when I was impressed by the movie "Independence Day" and it became one of my favorite movies since.

Today, 20 years later, I went and watched the "Independence Day - Resurgence". A part of me want to re-live that wow moment.

But I did not feel it. It was not bad but maybe because over the last 10 years I was so used to alien like movies, special effects and wars, the movie turns out to be "another safe the world alien movie". For me personally, it losts its sparks.

Hosea 4:6-7 "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; I will change their glory into shame"

Actually, the movie age is about the same as my christian life age. I was baptize in 1997 which makes it 19 years of journey.

What scares me is whether I also lost my sparks.  On whether I stuck on where I am and not growing in my knowledge of the Lord.

I found this as a good reminder for me. I hope and will continue to hope and pray that I can continue to be alerted and reminded about the knowledge that God has provided me over these 19 years.

Looking back, I am grateful for these years. I am grateful for the guidance, blessing, challenges, miracles that God have given to me.

Thank You Lord. Another day full of blessing. I am counting my blessing.

He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less - John 3:30 NLT

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #20years

#Day171: 21 June 2016, Tuesday

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE

Matthew 19:26 ESV - "But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible"

It is the school result day for kiddos. And praise to God in His highest place! Elsye and I are (again) a proud parents.

Constance gets to keep her 1st place in her class as well as for the whole year 3 classes.

Francis is also gets his amazing result of 2nd in his class and 5th in whole year 1 classes.

I can't be more proud. From a parent that has no clue of Chinese Language, they are bunch of miracles to have such achievement in Chinese school.

That's it. This proud experience (again) taught me about:

• Nothing is impossible (with God)
• Difficulties only make you do it better
• Never ever under estimate your children capabilities - never put boundries!
• Pray, Do your best and Have fun - remain as great principle of my family life.

I praise you Lord for this blessing. Amen.

Isaiah 41:10 ESV - "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand".

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #nothingisimpossible

#Day170: 20 June 2016, Monday

LET IT GO

Ephesians 4:31-32 - "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you"

Let it go.

Thats what I told myself today especially after several things happened at work as well as personal life.

I always told myself to control what I can and to let go those I cannot. But sometimes it is easier to do than said.

But today, I will make this short, I let go. I will apply the Pray, Do Your Best and Have Fun principle.

And, I surrender to Him. I am erasing all things that happened that trying to make life difficult.

Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

Like the song said "conceal, don't feel, don't let them know"

Another day full of blessing.

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #letitgo

#Day169: 19 June 2016, Sunday

BUILT THROUGH COMMUNION

Ps. Bambang Sutedja
(Abbalove Ministry - Jakarta Barat)

(A highly successful professional who recently decided to resign and dedicated his life fully to God).

Author: "Grand Design"
Director: Metanoia Publishing
-----------------------------------------------------

KNOWING & BECOMING:

What do we need to do, what is our calling in this life:

• Colossians 3:10: "and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator"
• This is our calling, to be like Him, to be like Jesus. We are believers

• Philippians 3:10-11 ESV - "That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead"
• In God we found our real purpose
• We need to "die" before we can "resurrect"

To become like the father, we need to ensure we prepare ourselves: "It is no longer I but Christ in me" (to make an "I" to a "C", we need to bend the "I", we need to bend ourselves).

It is the human nature that we all like to be served. Be it at work, in restaurant, at home and even at church. It is the human nature, who doesn't like to be served?

This is why a lot of time in our spiritual life, we need to be frequently updated. Just like a software update. This process allowing us to be refreshed and uplifted, to become a servant leader, to be the change in this world, to be like Christ, to change the "I" to "C".

FRUITFUL INTIMACY:

Psalm 1:2 ESV - "But his delight is in the law of the Lord , and on his law he meditates day and night"

• To know Him, to become like Him, to be blessed by Him, one of the key step in our life is to be near to Him by reading His words, to reflect in His words day and night.
• It sounded hard? Imagine this is as your courtship period. When you are with your love ones, we tend to wanting to be near to our partner. Day and night we look forward to meet, hear and near to him or her.
• It is the same! That is how we can delight Him!
• That's the true communion. The fruitful communion.
• To have a fruitful communion: Read The Words, Pray and Do it regularly

Another day full of blessing.

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #builtthroughcommunion

#Day168: 18 June 2016, Saturday

BOYS DAY OUT

It is the boys day out. Francis and I went out without the Mom and Sister (they were having their Girls Day Out too)

Few things that I proudly learned from the day:

• My son don't care about fancy restaurant. I asked him where he want to eat for lunch and he gently ask (with a long pleaseeeee), to eat at nearby food court - the auntie fried rice!
• I also learned about how kids appreciates simple things. He really love the time I spent with him
• And of course, he loves Ninja Turtles :)

What touches me is how fast he grew up. How fast kids grew up and if I am not careful, I may missed the opportunity to plant the seed in them, the seed of love and values. The seed of understanding God's love through God's words.

I found Natalie Snapp page and found something that I plan to give for my children.

It is the "Ten Bible Verses I Want My Children To Know":

1. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” – Hebrews 13:5
2. For you created my inmost being;  you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,  I know that full well. – Psalm 139:13-14
3. Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. – Hebrews 11:1
4. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. – Joshua 1:9
5. I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. – Jeremiah 31:3
6. A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. – Proverbs 15:1
7. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you,leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. – Matthew 5:23-24
8. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! – 2 Corinthians 5:17
9. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. – Romans 8:28
10. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. – Galatians 5:22-23

If it is not now then when. If it is not us (parents) then who? Time flies, let's not lose the opportunity, let's spent more time with our children, with our love ones.

What a day full of blessing.

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #boysdayout

#Day167: 17 June 2016, Friday

CELEBRATIONS

Psalm 150:1-6 - "Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!"

It is the last part of my training journey to become the facilitator and thank to our master facilitator we are all graduated and certified as one. It is time for celebration!

According to merriam-webster dictionary, celebration means:

• to do something special or enjoyable for an important event, occasion, holiday, etc.
• to praise (someone or something) : to say that (someone or something) is great or important
• to perform (a religious ceremony)

It is rightly so.

A lot of time we tend to ignore the beauty of a celebration. Trying to look modest, sometime we forget to enjoy the fruits of our hardwork, we forgot to praise the goodwork of others, we tend to choose to be busy rather than perform the needful relationship with God, the source of our strength.

Ecclesiastes 3:4 says "There is a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance"

It is rightly so. A time to celebrate.

"Remember the moment, cherish the story and celebrate this life"

What a day full of blessing.

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #celebration

#Day166: 16 June 2016, Thursday

PREPARATION

1 Peter 1:13 - Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Life is about learning, we will never stop learning.

I was reminded again today about the importance of preparation. It happened when I am tasked to perform a presentation, to facilitate a topic, something that I am used to, something that is not to me (the only new thing is the content)

I failed to prepare the necessary, I failed to prepare myself. And it translated into a mess.

I lost the words and the content went off from my brain. I ended up struggling to start the topic. Luckily this is just a training as part of preparing myself as a certified facilitator.

Proverbs 24:27 says "Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house".

No need to say anymore, in everything we do, preparation holds a huge some of contribution.

Alexander Graham Bell once says "Before anything else, preparation is key to success"

Another day full of blessing

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #preparation

#Day165: 15 June 2016, Wednesday

CAN DO

Philippians 4:13 - I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

According to merriam-webster dictionary "can do" means: characterized by eager willingness to accept and meet challenges <a can–do attitude>

Eager, which also means longing, yearning, can't wait to do, can't wait to be willing to accept and meet challenges.

I learned about this from the story of Joseph. Hated by his brothers, left to die, sold and was treated as dead, Joseph had every excuse to give up, to hate, to blame, to point finger, to grumble, to stop.

But he showed me that Attitude Is Everything!

Joseph knows that he can do all things through God who strengthens him

In our daily life, our relationship with our parents,  with our siblings, our pastor, our colleagues, our neighbour, our partner, we (sometime) can easily find an excuse to stop. To stop caring, to stop serving, to stop giving our best.

I pray that Joseph's story can be an inspiration and motivation for me when everything surrounds me trying to pull me down. I pray that I can always eager to give best, filled with the can do attitude.

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude - Thomas Jefferson

Another day full of blessing.

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #cando

#Day164: 14 June 2016, Tuesday

PASSION

Colossians 3:23 - Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men

One of the attributes that were discussed during my training is Passion. It is good to know that being passionate does not always about being estatic or not always about feeling.

Being passionate means giving our best in doing what is right in achieving the best quality that we can produce.

Being passionate means not easily giving up

Being passionate also means willingness to help

Being passionate means keep doing something right even when no one is watching

Just like the passion of Christ. Though He knew we are sinners, still he gave His best, not giving up, He is willing to go through the pain, and kept moving forward when no one is supporting him, until he reached the best sacrifice of all, died to safe our lives.

As we grow in our local community, our family, our company and our church, the question is,

How passionate are you in doing what you are doing? In serving who you are serving? What do you think?

Another day full of blessing.

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #passion

#Day163: 13 June 2016, Monday

FACILITATOR

"A facilitator is someone who engages in the activity of facilitation. They help a group of people understand their common objectives and assists them to plan how to achieve these objectives"

Today I start my journey on being trained as a certified facilitator for our company program. The idea is to build and equip some of us to become helper and advocate and act as facilitator of knowledge, sharing the wide spectrum of our cooperation and how each business units impact the world wide environment.

It is exicting and uplifting. It is a very humbling journey to be able to share our knowledge to others and uplift their mindset and behavior in providing a continuous great quality for the colleagues and customers.

It is an inspiring role with a humbling purpose.

John 14:16-17 - And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,  even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Indeed, it reminds me of a Holy Spirit who is our helper and mediator towards our spiritual growth.

I thank God that I have Holy Spirit that guides me in my day to day life. I pray that I can always invite Holy Spirit in all facilitation of knowledge that I am doing be it in the family or work place.

Holy Spirit, please continue to help me, facilitate me in the journey of my life. Thank you God for reminding me about Holy Spirit who lives in me.

Amen.

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #facilitator.

#Day162: 12 June 2016, Sunday

TENDER ART
Shien Chang

Belajar dari kisah Daud (Mazmur 51:5; 69:8). Daud adalah seorang anak yg ditolak, karena itu dia dijadikan penggembala domba. Dia juga dibuang oleh saudara-saudaranya.

Bukan berarti kita ga ada masa depan. Karena saat Daud berada di padang gurun, disitulah dia bertemu dengan Tuhan. Daud mempunyai proses yang berat, tetapi dia memiliki hati yang lembut yang siap dibentuk oleh Tuhan (Yehezkiel 36:26)

Bagaimana caranya memiliki hati yang lembut seperti Daud?

1. Encounter God
1 Samuel 16:6-12 - Saat kita mengenal Tuhan itu siapa kita juga akan mengerti bahwa apapun yang terjadi di hidup kita, kita tetap mempunyai masa depan yang cerah. Untuk bisa benar-benar mengenal Tuhan, kita harus mengalamiNya secara pribadi.

2. Right Attitude
Daud tidak sombong sekalipun dia diurapi di depan keluarganya. Ia memilih untuk tetap tunduk kepada otoritas (ayahnya) sekalipun ia sudah diurapi. (1 Sam 17)

3. Faith 
1 Sam 17:29-37 menceritakan tentang Daud yang akan masuk ke medan perang; sekalipun dia menghadapi musuh yang kuat tetapi Dia memiliki iman yang kuat bahwa Tuhan yang akan menyertai dia.

4. Grace
Kita harus sadar bahwa setiap kemenangan itu hanya bisa didapatkan oleh karena anugrah Tuhan saja, bukan karena kekuatan kita sendiri.
Zakharia 4:6b

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting

#Day161: 11 June 2016, Saturday

GOOD INTENTION (NEEDS GOOD EXECUTION)

1 John 3:18 ESV - Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth

I experienced an interesting incident today. It was not me but others.

There is this man that had a good intention to help his elder brother which facing a challenge. With all his good intention, thoughts and heart to help he went and speak to the family members of his elder brother.

Unfortunately, one thing led to another. The elder brother ended up with heated argument with his family members.

This is a good example of a good intention turns sour.

I learned that good intention is a good start. But it has to be accompanied with good execution, be it planning, communication or acts.

So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. - 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 NLT

Exactly! We need to translate our good intention to do what we should do. Not just shadowboxing but doing it with purpose.

Don't rush, pause and find your purpose. Build yourself with sufficient skills in delivering your good intention. Deliver your good intention with good execution.

Another day full of blessing.

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #goodintention

#Day161: 10 June 2016, Friday

FOLLOW UP

"What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you can to believe – as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building." – 1 Corinthians 3:5-9"

It's been 2 weeks since I had my achilless tendon injured. The pain reduces and I can feel that it is recovering. It is time for me to do the follow up check, to visit the doctor and evaluate the recovery progress.

The result is positive, the PRP works and the muscle is slowly recovering, it is still swollen but much lesser. The doctor requested me to rest for another 3 weeks.

There are some principles that I saw in this experience:

1. The doctor is merely a mediator and not the healer:

• With his God given talent and wisdom, he examined, suggested and performed the PRP injection
• He is doing according to his purpose.
• I learn about how we need to use our God given talent according to our purpose in life. Be it at our office, our business, our personal life, we are the mediator of a greater purpose for others.

2. Only God provides grow:

• The recovery process of the muscle is beyond the power of the doctor.
• It is depending on the body, the muscle, the mystery of human body.
• It is the greater power of our Creator.
• For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose. – Philippians 2:13

3. Our role - to Follow Up:

• Last but not least, our role is not any less important in this process of growth or healing.
• We need to follow up. Just like the story of the good and bad soil in Mark 4:14-20.
• To follow up means to allow the mediator to choose the best approach while God works continue to works His wonders. To grow aand multiply.
• Not to follow up may means slowing down the wonders that God is trying to put on us or others.

The same with our serving to God at church. We need to follow up on every tasks that we are doing for Him, especially following up on new members.

The same goes with our professional life. Never stop follow up on everyone that needs your support and encouragement.

God will continuously work His wonders, let us take part to be the mediator of sharing it.

Another day full of blessing. My challenge now is how to stay active and productive even when I need to rest the muscle for 3 weeks!! :)

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #followup

#Day160: 9 June 2016, Thursday

SERVANT LEADER

Mark 10:45 - "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many"

I think everyone at my age should know this quotes by Forrest Gump - "Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

It is indeed true. Life is a beautiful journey of ups and downs and it is very easy for us to be discourage and sometimes stop.

The examples shown in our surrounding makes it even much more easier for us to: refused responsibility, pointing fingers, boast about our achievements, hides our failures and so on and so on.

The world is slowly brainwashing people with those examples: making people craving for power, making money as their false god, making physical beauty as the benchmark, making people craving to be serve rather than serving.

But I believe in one true God. The God that teach about how serving is more important than to be served (Mark 10:45)

One if my favorite servant leader in the world is Mother Teresa. I admired and have full respect on her. There are few quotes that I always bring in my lifes:

• If you judge people, you have no time to love them.
• Peace begins with a smile ...
• Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.
• A life not lived for others is not a life.

And many more. This is an example of a servant leaders. A reflection of what our God Jesus Christ were doing when he spend his life on earth.

I pray that I can continue to smile and giving my best in everything that I do. Be it a sweet chocolate or a sour chocolate, I pray I have every strenght to walk through it. And continue to serve and not to be served.

My mom always said "always put others first"; Mother Teresa said "A life not lived for others is not a life"; Jesus said "I come to serve and not to be served"

I think I know what to do. I think we all know what we must do.

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #servantleader

#Day159: 8 June 2016, Wednesday

THE FEEDBACK & THE ACT

Proverbs 15:31 NLT - "If you listen to constructive criticism, you will be at home among the wise."

It is our second day of Conference. The final day.    The team received plenty of constructive feedback from the day 1 of the conference. As I shared yesterday, I feel bad for them. All of the hard work seems to be clouded by the unfortunate failure of technology.

But

• We know, it is not about what happened to you, but what happened in you when the unfortunate situation arises
• We know, we need to response to to react
• We know, it is not about the fall, it is about how we pick ourself up
• We know it is not about the constructive feedback but how we act on the feedback

The team knows and the marvelously acted on the feedback provided. I can say that the 2nd day clear all the clouds, lifted the mood and increased the engagement. Well done!

I saw two important aspects in this experience:

1. The Feedback

• It is constructive. Constructive means serving a useful purpose; tending to build up.
• It has a useful purpose, that is what's important.
• Only when it is constructive then we can have a better experience. Only when we behave constructively then we can construct a better result.
• Ephesians 4:29 remind us saying "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear"
• In every interaction that we have, are we doing it with a useful purpose? To build up others?

2. The Act

• Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another"
• Not only knowing, listening or reading about the constructive feedback, we also need to act on it.
• The act is as important as the feedback. The partner in crime.
• To open our mind and not harden our heart and let the feedback becoming the fuel for our uplifting engine.
• Proverbs 12:15 - "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice"

I am glad that the two things came hand in hand on the 2nd day of our conference. Kudos to the audience that share their constructive feedback. Kudos to the event team that acted on the feedback, constructively.

What a day full of blessing.

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #thefeedback&theact

#Day158: 7 June 2016, Tuesday

SHIT HAPPEN

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 
    ----- 2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-4

Sometimes things happen right on the money, according to our plan. And sometimes, it does not.

Today, we start our Global Conference. I can imagine the preparation that the event team has put for this global event which is one of the key event in our organization.

We have a lot of very senior management, from the corporate group, from business as well as from our very own organization.

The program, the communications, the apps, everything seems to be prepared nicely and diligently. The expectation is high. It needs to be better than last year which (last year) I found it as an almost perfect event.

Unfortunately, shit happen. Today during the event, most live broadcast from Prague to Cyberjaya are frozen. We only able to hear the audio while the video seems not willing to cooperate, although it was tested for million times.

It just won't work!! I feel bad for the team.

This is real life. Sometimes things don't go our way, sometimes it go beyond our expectation. It is part of the beauty of life.

What I believe is not about what had happened to you, but more important question is what happened to you after that.

Romans 5:3-5 - More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us

How we react, what our response are, these are more important. What should we do then? Like I always said, "nothing more than just walk through it". Do your best and let God do the rest.

Romans 8:28 - And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose

I give thanks to what happened today. It shows the limitation of human. It shows what real life is all about.

When things not happening according to our will or plan. Keep giving your best and let Him do the rest. I pray for a better event tomorrow and all technical glitch and its surprises are gone. In the name of Jesus, as I believe all things work together for good.

It is all good. Shit happen for a reason, a good reason.

I claim today as a day full of blessing. Amen.

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #shitshappens